Fresh Developments

As the Inklings settled themselves down at the table, Twilight’s mind was buzzing with questions.

“So, shall we get started?” Carson asked.

“Yeah. You said you’re Inklings. What exactly is that?”

Carson sighed and took a deep breath.

“Inklings, like we are, are an sentient, evolved species of Squid. After the beginning of the Mollusk age, after rising sea levels wiped out all of the previous civilizations, we became the dominant species on our landmass. Like squids, we produce ink, but not just in black. We can produce varying shades, from blue to green.”

“How are you squids?” Rainbow asked. “You don’t look like squids.”

Carson immediately shifted into his bright blue Squid form, causing a collective gasp from the ponies. He then shifted back into biped form, causing even more gasps.

“How did you do that?” Twilight asked.

“It’s complicated. Mostly involving hormone secretion that changes organ and body structure.”

“Wow. Anything more?”

“Yeah, we naturally produce ink when in squid form, and we can shoot it normally, but it’s produced really slowly when out of ink entirely. The process get’s sped up dramatically when we are in ink of the same color. For a blue Inkling, to speed up the process, you’d need to enter blue ink.”

“Somehow, we can’t make red ink. Like, pure red. We can make orange, though not red. It’s really crazy!” Alesa added. “Red’s my favorite color!”

“Like she said.” Carson continued. “But anyways, when we are in our squid form, we can swim around only in the ink that’s the same color as the Inkling. But when too much ink of another color enters an Inkling, it triggers an immune response called an Ink overload. Simply put, the main part of our body explodes.”

“YOU EXPLODE?” Rarity said, shocked.

“Not really. More like disintegration, but after an Ink overload, the Squid Soul, which is what we call the little wispy remains of a splatted Inkling, float back to the nearest InkSpawn point of the same color. There, the ink speeds up the natural healing process and reforms the body, allowing us to continue fighting the Ink battle we were in. It’s a neat system.”

“Interesting. What are those objects you’re carrying?”

“Cuttlegear developed Ink weaponry. The best there is. We’re civilized, so we don’t spray ink from our...places when in bipedal form.”

Every Inkling blushed at this, giving Pinkie absolute fits of laughter. After she calmed down, they continued.

“So, when we are in Squid form, we can spray ink in a large pulse, called a Super spray. We quickly developed this into a transport system, the Super jump. As long as we know where we are going, we can launch at least thirty feet into the air…”

“Wouldn’t you break like all the bones in your body on impact?” Fluttershy asked.

“Nope. We don’t have bones. We have cartilage skeletons that are SUPER shock and impact resistant. So, we don’t break anything. We get like paper cuts and things like that, but no broken cartilage.”

“Why do you have weapons with you?”

“Well, our favorite pastime is the Ink battle, which requires Ink Weaponry. Shooters, Chargers, Rollers, and Sloshers are the main types. Two teams, each with a different Ink color, compete to win in a variety of game modes. There’s the classic Turf War, which is just paint as much ground as possible before time runs out…”

“Tower Control…”

“Rainmaker…”

“And Splat Zones…”

“And these all require Ink weaponry?”

“Yeah. They work by directly absorbing ink from the body or ink of the same color, and it fills the tank. The tank is connected to the primary weapon and sub weapon.”

“Sub weapon?”

“Sub weapons are what we call the Inksplosives we use in Ink battles. Splat, Sticky, and Burst bombs, Seekers, Disruptors, Point Sensors, Sprinklers, Splat Walls, Ink Mines, and Squid beacons are all examples of sub weapons. Special weapons can be used when a gauge is full.”

“Special weapons?”

“Yeah. Inkzookas, Inkstrikes, Bubblers, Killer Wails, Echolocators, Kraken, and the Bomb Rush are Specials we can use. The Kraken is unique, however. Using it supercharges the body’s muscles and cartilage production for a short time, turning you into basically a super-squid. You are completely immune to all damage, and you leave a trail of ink of your color. You can also jump and corkscrew, causing huge damage to opposing Inklings.”

“Wow. That’s...cool.” Rainbow Dash said, shocked.

“It is. But, let’s get to why we are here. It started when all the radios in Inkopolis, the home city of the Inklings, went haywire simultaneously. Then, a giant Aurora Borealis, basically natural lights in the sky, went off in the middle of the day. Being Agent 3 of the Squidbeak Splatoon, I was called to investigate by Captain Cuttlefish, and his granddaughters, Callie and Marie, the Inkopolis Newscasters, and Agents 1 and 2 of the Squidbeak Splatoon.”

“Who’s Captiain Cuttlefish?”

“The Squidbeak Splatoon’s commander. He was the one who recruited me to stop the Octarians. Basically, our mortal enemies from the Great Turf War a long time ago. They got revenge by stealing the Great Zapfish, which powers the city, and I had to go through a lot to get it back.”

“Define “A lot.” for me, please." Rainbow said.

“I had to fight a fully weaponized DJ platform of armageddon, powered by the Great Zapfish, piloted by the Octarian leader, DJ Octavio. He’s now in a snowglobe in Octo Valley.”

“A snowglobe?” Rarity said, mortified.

“It’s a long story. He’s still pretty salty about it.  But anyways, I got a bunch of my pals together, being Alesa, Bri and Leo, and I made them Agents 3.1, 3.2, and 3.3. We got outfitted with a super-cool speedboat to find the source of the radio signal. We found you guys. I was on a recon mission when you caught me.”

“I see. Well, that’s quite a tale. Anything…”

“Who made those clothes? They’re simply FASCINATING!” Rarity said, eyeing the Hero Gear.

“Oh, Cuttlefish made these. But there are LOTS of other clothing brands in Inkopolis. Forge, Tentatek, Skalop, Firefin, Inkline, Krak-On!, Rockenburg, Splash Mob, Squidforce, Takaroka, Zekko, and Zink are the big ones. There’s a big fashion show every so often. (Rarity was panting like a dog at this point.) And the brand gear has specific abilities that help us in Ink Battles. There’s a lot of them, so I can’t say them all. But, it’s pretty nice.”

“OHMYGOSHTHATISSOAMAZING!” Rarity said, now in full fashionista mode.

“Yeah. But, anyways, what now?”

“Well, feel free to stay as long as you need, but.”

“Twi?”

All eyes turned to the baby dragon in the doorway. As soon as he saw the Inklings, he passed out.

“What’s that?”

“Oh, that’s Spike. My dragon assistant.”

“Wow. That’s pretty sweet.”

At that moment, the map swerved over to Canterlot and began to beep wildly.

"We've got a problem!" Pinkie said excitedly.

"Well, let's move then!" Twilight said.

"Any water access to that city?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Mind if we take our boat?" Carson asked.

"Sure."

As the Inklings and Ponies walked out, they failed to notice the three fillies watching them.

"Thinking what I'm thinking?"

"We stow away in the luggage?"

"No, the boat! If we get photos of us with those aliens, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon will HAVE to be impressed"

As the fillies followed the Inklings, they watched the squid kids pack up the gear and prepare to leave. Stowing away in the cargo hold, they snickered to themselves.